The last time I was with the Santo Daime (July 9 2011), attending a Cura ritual, the first part of the ritual was again one of full mental clarity, me being the awake voyeur of what the mind had to show. Its subject was strongly related to what is happening lately a lot: clear seeing and the seen being objected to, denied, or otherwise not seen as seeing.
Many aspects of seeing in relation to not seeing, not knowing, not wanting to see, not being able to see, innocence and ignorance, came tumbling along. Expecting people to be willing to see what you (I) see is naive, unrespectful and in a way violent.
It was seen that all this is relative, and wanting it to be a certain way, (even wanting someone to see something and pushing that ‘for their own good’) is absolutistic.
And also this came along: For the absolute to be known the way we can know it, the absolute needs us. And in that sense the absolute is relative too.
Wow, under the influence of a Brazilian plant brew, in the context of a syncretic* spiritual practice, it felt like getting chassidic insights that reminded of the Ich und Du
(I and Thou) of Martin Buber.
And then, out of the blue: ‘we’re going to serve the second dose of Santo Daime’.
The rest of the night was again sheer beauty.
The overall feeling during that night and since, was an increased being totally intrigued lately by this words in the bible about words: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (King James, John 1:1).
“O Daime, é o Daime
O Professor dos professores”
*Santo Daime is syncretic in that it incorporates elements of several religious or spiritual traditions including Folk Catholicism, Kardecist Spiritism, African animism and South American Shamanism. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santo_Daime )
And the habitual pics from just before and after the ritual:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/3vcjkhj
